Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a method to control movements of a medical apparatus via a control device with a touch-sensitive display, which includes selecting an apparatus component of the medical apparatus and moving the selected apparatus component as well as a control device to control a medical apparatus and a medical apparatus that operate according to such method.
Description of the Prior Art
In various types of medical apparatuses, such as x-ray systems or fluoroscopy systems, at least one apparatus component is most often movable in a motorized manner around at least one axis. Manual control of the movable components plays a large role. For example, it is necessary to position the individual components of an x-ray system (such as x-ray detector and x-ray radiator) relative to a patient so that an x-ray exposure of a defined body part of the patient can be created with an optimally good quality.
Various control methods for the manual control to move the apparatus components are known, BUT the existing solutions have problems that have previously not been solved or have not been considered.
For example, one problem is to apply an existing control method to various apparatuses so that the operation becomes easier for the user upon changing apparatuses, or when applied to a previously unknown apparatus.
An additional unsolved problem is that of allowing blind operability, namely that the user can operate the medical apparatus without looking at the controls at the control device, or without visual contact with the apparatus with the user receiving, at the apparatus itself or at the control device, a direct visual feedback as to whether the movements have been executed.
In addition, existing control methods can be difficult to adapt if, for example, new ideas and changes should be incorporated into the existing concept. Even the incorporation of small changes at the apparatus to be controlled can be very cost-intensive.
The following control methods for the manual control of apparatus components are known in the prior art:
One possibility is control via analog joysticks. Such joysticks are often integrated into a stationary operating console for remote control. If a user moves the joystick in a defined direction, the apparatus component which is assigned to the joystick also moves in the corresponding direction. The joysticks are conventionally movable along one or two axes. The strength of the deflection can affect the movement, in particular how fast a movement is executed. The greater the deflection of the joystick, the faster that the component then moves. One or two hands are necessary to operate the joystick, depending on the complexity of the control.
An additional control method is the use of a remote control with buttons. Analogous to the control by means of joystick, here the various components and axes of the apparatus system are mapped and addressed via buttons. In contrast to the operation with joystick, in which the operation is realized via a stationary operating console (or an operating console with only limited mobility), the remote control is portable, wireless and operable with one hand.
A laser remote control is an additional known control method, in which the system movement is likewise controlled with the use of a wireless remote control. A significant difference relative to the remote control with buttons is that the movements are primarily controlled via movements of the remote control itself, and not by the pressing of buttons.
Furthermore, a controller of medical apparatuses that is based on a touchscreen display is known, for example for a C-arm system. Here the movement, in particular an exact positioning of the C-arm, can be controlled by finger movements on a touch-sensitive display directly attached to the C-arm. The finger movement on the display corresponds to the movement of the C-arm. For example, the velocity of the movement can be affected by the length of the movement executed on the display, or a parallel displacement of the C-arm can be achieved by multiple contact points of the display (for example, contacted simultaneously with multiple fingers).
Furthermore, it is fundamentally relevant to security to always execute the movements of the individual components only with safety monitoring, since unintended and unmonitored movements of the components (many of which are very large and heavy) of the medical apparatuses represent a risk of injury for the operating personnel and the patient.